Here's another go:
The package filesystem I tried to describe avoids:
- running scripts
- copying/moving/spreading files
- registering stuff
- mixing package contents
It would satisfy diverse needs:
- classic BeOS minimalism/simplicity
- control-freak information level
- scalable infrastructure (both up & down)
It could easily both co-exist and host
- normal app folders
- multi-location "unix file sprawl"
- Apple-style bundles (If Haiku had them you could
put a bundle in pkgfs package, if you wanted to.)
The pkgfs would monitor a folder on a "real" fs,
where packages are kept. That's the pkgfs backend.
It would present the package contents as a virtual
filesystem structure, possibly overlaying a real file-
system. (E.g. fully virtual: /apps/... or overlayed:
/boot/apps/...) That's the frontend, and all there is
to it.
The pkgfs might also publish the metadata of each
package, e.g. dependencies, as queryable attributes,
as a service to the packet manager and for user
perusal, should you be interested.
A pkgfs-aware "Add/Remove software..."-style app would
help enumerate installed software, present a list of
software available from the online repo, deal with
dependencies and simply move packages to/from the
pkgfs backend folder.
You could drag packages in/out of the packages folder
yourself - this would be perfectly workable with a
small amount of software with few/no dependencies -
and the result should be obvious and instantaneous
in the apps folder.
(Problems could be signaled with attributes as well
as with icon overlays or badges, to cater to people
as well as to a package manager.)
You would get a package, from
- repo-aware application (Synaptic-style?)
- website
- USB/email
- some other Haiku box which had it installed already
When getting a package without the aid of the manager
application, you double-click the package to open/
install it with the manager app. Or you simply drop
it in the pkgfs backend folder.
Piece of cake.
It's not unthinkable to extend this also to
~/config/add-ons and /system/add-ons
for codecs, drivers, etc.
It's just a matter of fs overlay reach.
But I think it's best to keep the pkgfs' virtual
file structure somewhat apart from the boot fs,
and the user's "real" files, to avoid confusion.
